News & Blog

Mohawk Bend, an all-inclusive locally-sourced beer bar and restaurant, opened just last week in the younger, trendy neighborhood of Echo Park, Los Angeles. Featuring 65 California-produced beers, 10 California-produced wines, and a full-service menu utilizing local foods right down to the flour in the organic pizza dough, the restaurant’s opening has been anticipated by hard-core foodies in Los Angeles for months now.

And why does this all matter to us? Because our olive oil and balsamic vinegars are featured in the kitchen at Mohawk Bend! That’s right, Chef Randal St. Clair hand-selected our products to be one of the exclusive California-produced foods used in his kitchen.

Our relationship with St. Clair began—quite serendipitously—at one of our farmers markets in southern California (nothing short of magic happens at those markets!). “I just loved the product,” St. Clair said of The Olive Press oils. Before long, St. Clair and our market manager Matthew sparked up a lively rapport at the markets, and when the time came for development of the revolutionary Mohawk Bend restaurant menu, our oils were already on the chef’s list.

Try the Dukkah, Pig Newton, and Mohawk!

Currently, St. Clair is using our Arbequina Olive Oil in his kitchen, and it’s featured on display in the dining room in one of our stainless steel fusti containers. The olive oil is used in one of St. Clair’s favorite items on his menu: dukkah. Dukkah, a traditional Egyptian appetizer, is not unlike the Middle Eastern za’atar. It’s a dry spice mixture made of black and white sesame seeds, whole cumin seeds, and pistachios. The spices are toasted nightly in the kitchen, ground separately, and mixed together for an incredibly savory, aromatic combination. Served on a dipping plate alongside coarse sea salt and Arbequina, one dips freshly baked bread into the triad of ingredients: first oil, then salt, and then the dukkah. It’s irresistible. St. Clair says that the customers who order this rustic, robust dish are the same customers who will appreciate the quality of the olive oil they are dipping with.

But there’s more than olive oil dipping going on with our products at Mohawk Bend. St. Clair is using our artisan balsamic vinegars in his revered 100% California pizzas. Fig Balsamic is featured in the Pig Newton, a masterpiece of locally-cured Serrano ham, goat cheese, fig tapenade, and arugula. Peach Balsamic is used in the experimental stages of a Burrata King, a summer sensation with burrata cheese, peaches, and fresh herbs.

In the restaurant’s signature salad called the “Mohawk,” our Arbequina is whisked with fresh lemon juice to dress an ever-changing mélange of fresh cheeses, greens, herbs, and fruits in an all-local, all the time salad.

And this is only the beginning for the possibilities. On opening night, Mohawk Bend fed over 550 guests, far more than anticipated. As the menu progresses and changes with the seasons, we’re excited to see how St. Clair uses our olive oils and balsamic vinegars to complement his amazing menus.

For those in the greater Los Angeles area, we recommend you put Mohawk Bend on the must-eat list. The beers are extraordinary, the food couldn’t be more satisfying, and the intention behind the cuisine is nothing short of truly mindful. And the place itself is just gorgeous, a full 10,000 square feet made from a refurbished Vaudeville theatre. The dining area is speckled with jars of homemade pickles, condiments, and (fab!) our colorful olive oil and balsamic bottles.

We asked Chef St. Clair what he might like our readers to know, if there was one final note. He reiterated his fondness for the Egyptian dipping appetizer: “I’m a huge fan of the dukkah.” What can we say? We tried it ourselves, and it was amazing. The roundness of the peppery Arbequina Olive Oil balanced the strong aromatics of the freshly mixed spices. So we’re thinking a motto for our personal customers: Come for The Olive Press, stay for the dukkah.